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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from The Death of the Lion by Henry James: newspapers say. It looks well in the newspapers, and almost
anything that does that's horrible. 'We are happy to announce that
Mr. Paraday, the celebrated author, is again in the enjoyment of
excellent health.' Somehow I shouldn't like to see it."
"You won't see it; I'm not in the least celebrated - my obscurity
protects me. But couldn't you bear even to see I was dying or
dead?" my host enquired.
"Dead - passe encore; there's nothing so safe. One never knows
what a living artist may do - one has mourned so many. However,
one must make the worst of it. You must be as dead as you can."
"Don't I meet that condition in having just published a book?"
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